


The Dangers of Catching up with Old Friends

by Blonde_and_Nerdy



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Gen, pre battle of Shingansina
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-05-16 20:27:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19325500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blonde_and_Nerdy/pseuds/Blonde_and_Nerdy
Summary: Daz wondered about them occasionally with all the chaos that the military seemed to be since Trost. Rumors were always flying but he doubted all of them as ridiculous. So what were the other members of the 104th cadet training corps really doing now in the Scouts? Turns out he did not want to know the truth.





	The Dangers of Catching up with Old Friends

Daz shifted uncomfortably on the wooden bench as more and more bodies piled on. The new Queen had ordered that all the garrison soldiers brush up on their skills as the Survey Corps prepare to take back Wall Maria. He snorted, this was ridiculous. The Special Operations Squad was going to give them tips on how to take down intelligent titans since they had the most experience with them and then all the old soldiers of the walls would be put through the paces by Shadis. Daz swore he left behind the drill sergeant when he graduated. 

“So what do you think they will be like?” Lizzie’s voice was alight with excitement and too loud right next to his ear. 

“I don’t know. Probably like Levi since they’re the Levi Squad.”

“Oh, so they all will be big bad veterans. I wonder if any of them are going to be hot.”

Daz just rolled his eyes. “They are some of the best fighters we have, they are probably too old for us.”

Lizzie nocked her shoulder into his playfully pushing him into Rictor who was on the other side.  
“Too old for you maybe, but I am a mature woman of eighteen.”

Rictor snorted which earned him a glare from Lizzie. “Keep it in your pants. You are almost crazy enough to be Survey Corps already, don’t want to catch anymore or you might also go charging into Shigansina with them.”

All three laughed, calling the Survey Corps crazy always made them laugh even if the joke was not actually funny. 

“Oh look there they are!” Lizzie shouted making Daz’s ear ring again. 

Looking to his left, Daz saw a small group of soldiers who all have the Wings emblazed on their back. The group was smaller than he expected only half a dozen or so and most were shorter than him. Then he saw a familiar bald head and his heart clenched. He knew Connie was one of his bunkmates that had chosen to go into the Survey Corps but it had been months and Daz had no idea how many were still alive. He had tried not to think about it like he tried not to think about Trost. 

He stood up suddenly overcome with the urge to know for sure.

“Will you save my spot for me? I see an old bunk mate that I want to say hi to.”

He left before Lizzie or Rictor could ask any questions trying to make his way towards Connie. It was tricky as most people seemed to be trying to move away from the Survey Corps members. 

“Connie! Man, it has been a while.”

Connie gave one of his huge crooked smiles when he caught sight of him and threw his arms around Daz’s shoulders. He didn’t mean to feel up his friend but there was definitely more muscles there than three months before.

“Oh man, I did not realize you would be here. It’s great to see you again. How ya been?”

“Can’t really complain. It’s been pretty quiet in the Garrison. There was a lot of confusion with the whole coup, revolt whatever thing that happened but we never saw any action. What about you? Hope it was the same in whatever place they put your lot while the commanders duked it out.”

Connie rubbed the back of his head and gave a new smile, it was smaller and folded in on itself in the corner.

“No, I never saw the inside of a jail cell. I was doing, other stuff during that time but it’s all good now. We are all fine.”

The brighter smile was back but it had a new edge to it. Quickly trying to change the subject of what exactly Connie was up to if he was not in jail with the rest of the ordinary Survey Corps soldiers Daz asked, “So, um, this is kinda awkward man but how is everyone else? Like are Jean and Eren still fighting like cats and dogs? Is Berthold still following Reiner around like the love stuck idiot he is?”

Connie’s face completely lost the smile then and it felt like he had driven it straight into Daz’s heart. He knew that being in the Survey Corps was deadly and more than likely most of his old friends were dead but it still hurt.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

Connie shook his head but no smile reappeared. 

“Nah, but you should know.” He pulled the arm that was still around Daz, forcing him to come closer so they were pressed against each other and in a quieter voice than ever, he whispered. “Berthold and Reiner are still alive and together we believe but . . . they aren’t with us anymore.” He paused “Have you heard that the Titan Shifters infiltrated the military?” 

Daz nodded, tongue no longer working. Connie’s eyes were staring right into his own and the intensity was starting to hurt, especially from Connie who was normally such a laid back guy. 

“Well, I guess there was a reason Berthold was always nervous and Annie was so cold. Berthold and Reiner are still together somewhere outside the Walls, plotting how to take down all of humanity as the Colossus Titan and the Armored Titan. Annie was captured but she, well let’s say she chose to isolate herself rather than answer for what she did.” 

Connie squeezed his shoulder as if trying to ground him but it didn’t work. Daz felt like he had just jumped into the nearly always freezing river by the barracks. How could three people he knew and two he counted as a friend be an enemy? The enemies were far off monsters that only crazy people faced with grotesque portions and massive appetites. Not friends who smiled when they lent you a hand or gave you some of their water on long runs claiming they needed it less. 

“Mikasa is doing the same as always and Armin is really shining with all of his battle plans and strategies. He even spends time with Commander Erwin talking them over.” Connie was still talking softly but there was a slightly forced lightness to it. “Sasha still driving the cooks mad with her potato heists. Oh, and Christa goes by Historia now.” 

Daz nods mutely. 

“Jean and Eren still go at it though. It’s funny really, everyone avoids making Eren angrier these days but Jean will just strut up to him and they fling insults. It better when Eren is in his Titan form since all he can do is growl back or pick up Jean who looks tiny next to Eren then.” 

Connie’s laugh seemed genuine if not as free as it had been back in training, Daz so desired to laugh right now. 

“I forgot that Eren’s the Survey Corps pet Titan. They both must look pretty stupid yelling at each other like that.”

He was thrown for another loop when Connie didn’t laugh. 

“Don’t call him that. He ain’t a pet. He’s still the same Eren just a bit taller. Yells about the same amount too.”

“Uh right. Sorry.” Now it was Daz’s turn to rub the back of his head unsure of where to take what is turning out to be the worst conversation of his life. 

“I should probably head back to my seat. I got a good seat in the back where Levi’s Squad can’t see me doze.”

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best. But you should pay attention though. It might save your life someday to know this information and it wasn’t cheap for us to get it.”

Connie turned back to the center of the room. Daz realized then that the Survey Corps members setting everything up were Armin, Mikasa, and Sasha. Jean was walking towards them with a frown on his face. He seemed older. They all seemed much older, even Connie. 

“Hit me up for drinks after this if you can. I probably owe you a round for something.” He called desperate to try and pretend things were the same as before this conversation. 

“I would love to but we got drills after this and more Garrison soldiers to train up. Maybe later?”

“Sure.” 

They both knew they would never go out for those drinks. With that, they parted and Daz returned to Lizzie and Rictor in a daze. Probably stepping on countless toes and shoving people rudely. When he sat down with a hard thump Rictor turned, a concerned look on his face. 

“Ya okay, man?”

“I don’t fucking know. I just don’t know anymore.”

Lizzie pushed in closer.

“Do you want to talk about it or a distraction?”

“Distraction please.”

It came out more like a whine than real words but neither Rictor nor Lizzie called him out on it.

“So how do you think they are in bed? If they are the best at killing Titans, I bet they are the best in bed too.”

Looking up from his hands, Daz saw that Lizzie was pointing to Jean who was talking to Captain Reed. Without thinking, Daz just starting talking.

“Loud and whinny. It was annoying being under him when they started going at it.”

Lizzie’s face breaks into one of the largest grins ever and Rictor is nearly choked on his laughter. Daz’s face feels hot with embracement.

“He was my bunkmate back in training. He and Marco always chose the worst time to screw around.” His voice sounded defensive even to his own ears. “I used to kick up into their bed when they got too loud and once I managed to kick Jean right in the dick. That shut them up quickly.”

This did nothing to curb his friend’s amusement. Between laughs, Lizzie asks, “Got anything else on him or any of the others.”

Focus on the good, not the bad was something a veteran had told Daz after Trost. So he decided what the hell, he could use some good memories right now. “Lizzie, I got shit on all of them. They are all 104 like me.”

For some reason, this did not make Lizzie laugh more. More serious than Daz heard her in a long while she cussed “Shit, they’re all babies.”

“Hey! We ain’t babies. Need I remind you which of us actually has experience fighting real titans?”

Rictor put his hand on Daz’s head. “You graduated three months ago. You are a baby until next year’s cadets take the oath.” He also seemed a bit rattled by the news for some reason.

“Look I got stories if you want to hear. Connie, the bald kid I was talking to, did his salute backwards during the first day. And Sasha was caught by Shadis eating a stolen potato during the first morning line up.” 

Rictor smiled but did not laugh. Instead, he somberly said, “I wonder how they managed to become one of the top squads in just three months?”

Daz thought about what Connie had told him, about Reiner, everyone’s big brother, Berthold, the kind shadow, and Annie, the ice queen. He had said the information about them hadn’t come cheap and now Daz was wondering what exactly they had gone through for it. 

Thankfully, Jean himself saved Daz by giving a familiar piercing whistle. “Alright, shut up! We are going to begin this.”

Daz doesn’t really remember much of the lecture Jean gave. He remembered Jean and Armin taking turns yelling about abilities and strategies. He remembered the numerous times Jean shouted that they needed to expect the unexpected when fighting them, but little else. Every time he said Colossus or Armor, all Daz could hear was Berthold and Reiner. His world view was so titled that he would believe anything. The sky is red, sure. There was a civilization outside the walls, okay. All Titans are people, why the fuck not. 

Towards the end of the lecture, he noticed that it was not just him that was struggling. Jean’s fists were clenched and Armin’s voice was cold and emotionless. Connie and Sasha were showing drawn images to the crowd with minimum jokes. When it was their turn to see the drawings, Daz noticed they were Jean’s work, but not his best. Jean’s hand was usually stiller with a pen and brush. 

Thankfully, it ended not long after that and Daz started rushing. Hopefully, if he got back to the barracks before anyone else he could hide in his room until this awful day was just another memory to suppress. 

“Wow, that was crazy. It’s like they expect us to ever willingly go near one of those freak titans.” The voice was just another in the sea of noise but it felt more like an arrow as it conjured the image of Reiner gently shaking him awake to make sure he was up for the reveille. 

“Queen Historia is as crazy as the Scouts.”

“I heard she was a Scout and she killed that huge titan that was attacking the Orvud District?”

The ground shifted under him again but Lizzie was there putting an arm around his shoulder and leading him somewhere.

“Hey, Daz! Wait, weren’t you in Trost? Did you get close to the Colossus Titan?” Daz recognized this voice. One year older than Daz himself, Aiden loved lording over him. 

“It was really quick, I didn’t see much.” That was a lie, he remembered every inch of Berthold’s face. He had nursed a torch for him until Ymir had told Daz that Berthold's heart belonged Reiner.

“I was on the wall with the others from my squad and then suddenly there he was.” Oh god did Berthold just wait for them to turn their back and jump down the wall. 

“All I could see was steam and all I heard was screaming as we jumped to the other side.” Armin had been the one to move them to safety while Eren jumped towards danger. 

“Then there was the loudest bang I have ever heard and he was gone.” Had he used the smoke to hide his return to them? Had he used their retreat to hide what he had done? 

Adrien tried to push past Rictor who had come between them. “Dude, how close did you get to it?”

An image of a camping trip when Daz came to mind. Berthold had always run so hot that there had been literal fist fights to sleep next to him. The time Daz himself won that time, he woke up so warm with his face pressed into Berthold’s belly completely on top of his crush. 

“I was pretty close.” Was that his own voice? It sounded as emotionless as Armin’s. Lizzie started leading him again and Daz had no energy to fight. He never did, that was why he was here and not with them, his old squad. 

Lizzie took him to her room and Rictor locked the door behind them. They sat him on the hard bed and squeezed in. 

“I had a crush on the Colossus Titan.” He had not meant to say it but now it won’t stop. “Walls, they were my bunkmates and my squad mates. And now my other squadmates are off to try and kill them. Fuck!” 

Tears were falling fast and strong arms were hugging him tight. Daz just cried and mumbled out garbled phrases that made little sense to his two friends. At some point, Daz ran out of tears and emotions. 

“Hey, are you feeling better?” Lizzie’s voice was soft, barely above a whisper. She also seemed to be shaking. “I’m sorry that . . . “ She trailed off unsure of what to follow that. 

“We’re sorry that your friends weren’t who you thought they were.” Rictor finished. That was a very polite way to say we are sorry your friends are traitors and caused so much pain and death. 

“You know I am happy to be a coward here. I almost went to the Scouts, everyone I looked up to was choosing to fly over the walls and fight. But at the last moment my true nature my cowardness took over. I would rather be a coward than have to fight my friends.” 

Daz leaned into them and allowed unconsiousness to take him. In the morning he would put today in the same tight box in his brain that also held Trost and the time he thought a titan saved him from the snow hike. Hopefully never to see the light of day again. 

In the morning Daz bolted straight up almost knocking Rictor of the small bed. “What the fuck! Christa is now Historia! That means she’s the fucking Queen!” Daz then faceplanted back into his pillow. He wasn’t going to deal with that thought any time soon.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a pretty self-indulgent fic, as all of mine are. I wanted to know how the rest of the 104th reacted to the crazy shit that went down, the ones that are still alive at least. So I wrote this. All mistakes are mine because I do not have a beta reader, but I will take criticism is that your jam. Please leave a comment if you enjoy yourself. Thank you for reading!


End file.
